With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning of a scoreless game, the ball jumped off the bat of Ottawa senior Piper Lewis.
She knew it was gone.
Lewis leapt in the air as the ball sailed over the fence, pumped her arms and let out a celebratory scream between first and second base.
She was mobbed at home plate after delivering a three-run home run to center field that lifted the No. 2-seeded Pirates to a 3-0 victory over No. 3 Geneseo in the Class 3A Geneseo Regional championship Saturday in Geneseo.
“I don’t think I’ve ever jumped higher,” Lewis said. “It just felt so good to see all my teammates and be able to do that for them.”
It is the fourth consecutive regional title for Ottawa, which was sent west this season after typically going east, having won one regional at Morris and two at home the previous three years.
“It feels great,” Ottawa coach Adam Lewis said. “It’s exciting. We’ve had a regional in Morris and a couple at home. This is a totally different setting. It’s a new group of teams this year (we played against), so it was great to move into a different sub-sectional and still be able to accomplish it.”
Ottawa freshman Teagan Darif, who made a big defensive play in the top of the sixth inning, said she’s happy to be part of the Pirates winning program.
“It’s amazing,” Darif said. “It’s super nice being a freshman and doing that for the seniors. It feels great to help them get that win.
“I love that everyone is like a family and we all get along very well. Winning this shows how much work we put into everything. Joining (the program) makes me feel good because I’m always going to try my hardest, so I’m glad that everyone collectively always tries their hardest. It’s amazing.”
The Pirates (21-10) advance to play Dunlap (26-8) at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the La Salle-Peru Sectional.
“We went to watch Dunlap,” Adam Lewis said. “Dunlap has a good pitcher, they play good defense and they put the ball in play. I think they’re going to be a gritty team, a lot like Geneseo. I think the pitchers are similar in what types pf pitches they throw, the speed they throw, that sort of thing. From an offensive standpoint, it’s going to be kind of the same game plan. Defensively, we’ll just try to continue to keep them off balance and keep them off the bases.”
Ottawa used strong pitching and defense and a timely hit to get past the Maple Leafs.
Addie Russell threw a two-hit shutout, striking out seven batters and walking five.
“I thought she was really spinning it,” Adam Lewis said. “Even if she got behind, she didn’t lose her spin just to throw a strike. She still continued to spin it, so even though she may have had a 2-0 count, she was still throwing something with movement so she didn’t get hurt in those counts.”
Russell escaped jams in the fourth and sixth innings. The Maple Leafs had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth before she got a strikeout and a pop out.
In the sixth, a walk and a double with one out gave Geneseo runners second and third.
Lauren Piquard hit a deep fly ball to center field that seemed to be a textbook sacrifice fly, but Darif caught it and fired a perfect throw to Ottawa catcher Bobbi Snook to get Addison Snell at the plate to end the inning.
“I feel like it was a great moment,” Darif said. “I was very glad I got the opportunity to have that throw. I just stayed calm and hoped for the best. I used all my might to try to get it there.
“I feel like it gave us more energy and more confidence to keep going and try to get our win.”
In the bottom half of the inning, Kennedy Kane drew a leadoff walk and Darif drew a one-out walk to set the stage for Lewis.
“It was the best feeling in my life,” Darif said about seeing Lewis’ home run ball. “It was amazing. I’m so glad she did it.”
The Pirates finished with four hits and did not have a runner in scoring position before the sixth.
“We learned from our past at-bats,” Piper Lewis said about how the Pirates finally broke through. “We had great contact early in the game. I feel like everybody just took more from each at-bat and each pitch.”
Ottawa right fielder Rylee Harsted made a catch with her back against the fence to start the top of the seventh inning, caught a hard line drive for the second out and ended the game by catching another fly ball.
Harsted also made a tough running catch on a hard line drive to the right-center field gap in the second. Snook caught a popped up bunt and nearly doubled off the runner at first as part of Ottawa’s strong defensive effort.
“Our defense was on point, which held us in the game and allowed us to see their pitching and adjust later in the game,” Piper Lewis said.